Shower pipe



Allg 28, 1934- 3. s. v'vrrHAM, JR., Er AL 1,972,001

SHOWER PI PE Filed Aug. 23, 1933 Patented Aug. `28h, 1934 1,972,001 snowaa PIPE George Stanford Witliam, Jr., and Daniel J.

Walsh Q Lincoln. N. l1.

Application anni: z3, 193s, serial Nc. 686,390

. 7 Claims.' ((1299-1116) It has heretofore been proposed to force liquid from a shower pipe in the form of a sheet or spray. In one such device that has been proposed, the two ends of a metal sheet are welded or otherwise secured together, the major portion of the sheet being formed into a tube while the welded ends form a flange adjacent which openings are provided which cause liquid projected therefrom to impinge against the ange and be projected against an object in the form of a sheet or spray. The impingement of the sprays against the flanges, however, necessarily decreases the force with which the sprays impinge against the object upon which they are primarily directed. Furthermore the liquid impinging upon the flange eventually erodes the same forming depressions, thereby not only injuring the shower pipe but distorting the desired form of spray.

One of the objects of our invention is the provision of a shower pipe provided with openings and associated means disposed in a wall of the shower pipe for producing fan-shaped or abelli form sprays without the use of obstructions or baffles which reduce the impact force of the spray.

When adjacently located orices are positioned to produce sprays which intermingle before impinging against the object which is to be washed,

the force with which the spray is directed against.

the object is decreased with a corresponding decrease in the eiliciency of the device.

Another object `of our invention, therefore, is the provision in a shower pipe of a plurality of orices adapted to discharge a liquid in abelliform sprays of the-foregoing character, said orices being arranged to direct 'said sprays in parallel planes angularly disposed with respect to the axis of the shower pipe. The orifices are also designed to produce sprays sufficiently extended at their zones of impingement with a traveling sheet such as a felt or Fourdrinier wire of a paper making machine that, assuming the felt or wire be moved at a uniform yrate before said orifices, the entire surface thereof is subjected to a comparatively uniform spray impulse with no substantial intermingling of sprays.

A further object of our invention is the provision of a shower pipe particularly adapted for use in thepaper making industry and provided with inlets for liquids of different characters, such for example as fresh Water and white water for use as a spray. White water contains more or less fluffs, bers, clays and coagulated matter and it is evident the presence of these materials therein must be taken into consideration. In accordance Vwith our invention, therefore, the

lbers and other matter,

openings with which the pipe is provided are made sufficiently large to permit the passage of thereby preventing the clogging of the openings.

Other novel features of our invention will appear in the specification and will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

Our invention will best be understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawing in which we have illustrated a preferred embodiment thereof 05 and in which- Fig. 1 isV an elevation view of .a shower pipe embodying our invention erected over a Fourdrinier wire;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a shower pipe illustrating the disposition of the sprays relative to an object to be cleaned;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, sectional view through` a wall of a shower pipe illustrating a preferred method of securing the spraying nozzles therein;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of a shower pipe with a spraying noazle positioned in the wall thereof;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 4; Y

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the spraying nozzle Fig. 8 is a reversed plan view of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken on the line 9 9 of Fig. 8; and .l Y

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary elevationview illustrating the arrangement for locking the cleaner or scraper in position. i

Like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the drawing. v

Referring to the drawing, 10 is the wire pit 'of a Fourdrinier machine and 11 is the wire. A shower pipe 12 embodying our invention is located above the wire 11 and provided with inlets 13 and 14 at each end thereoiXforV supplying liquids of different characters. The inlets are preferably in the form of Ts which are threaded to the threaded ends of the shower pipe 12. The inlet pipe 15 which 1s connected to the lmet 13 `00 may be used for supplying white water while `the inlet pipe 16 at the opposite end which is connected to the inlet 14 may be used for supplying fresh water. Valves 17 and 18 are provided in the inlet pipes 15 and 16 for shutting off the one 105 liquid when the other liquid is being supplied.

Our Vinvention contemplates the provision in a shower pipe of a plurality of orifices advantageously positioned in the walls thereof. We

have found that an expedient method of fabrin threaded opening y1y of the pipe.

' passageof the spray emanating thermore, the buttons, when in fixed positions, are l 2. cating a structure embodying our invention is to provide a pipe with a plurality of openings 19, which are preferably threaded, countersunk, and arranged substantially in alignment longitudinal- In each of the openings is secured a spraying button 20 of the form best shown in Figs. '1, 8 and 9. These buttons are preferably in the form of a disc and are provided with a central opening or orifice 21. The button is theaded on its periphery as at y22 and is received in the 19 of the pipe. yvhen in the desired position, the button is preferably locked with a drop of solder as indicated at-201, or otherwise firmly secured within the opening, in order to prevent any possibility of its working loose and falling upon and injuring the Fourdrinier wire or other object in connection with which it is used.

The solder or other securing means is limited to,

portions terior mouth of the orifice in order to permit free therefrom. Furush with the inner surand in no case are they within the'interior thereof located approximately kpermitted to extend where they would interfere with the free opera-r tion of the scraper or cleaner after be described.

means are provided for causing from ith'e opening which will herein- The button is provided on its delivery side with two aligned, radially disposed grooves 23, the inwardly converging side walls of which merge to form curved vertices extending in a radial direction from the centralk opening 21 and merging with the surface of the button near the outer periphery thereof (see Figs. 'l and 9). Associated the liquid to issue and from the grooves 23 in a flabelliform spray. The inner side of the disc or button is also provided with two aligned, radially .disposed grooves a the grooves 23 and preferably ,converging side walls.

24 arranged at right angles to having inwardly The grooves are deepest and narrowest at the orifice 21 and become wider and slope uniformly upward to merge with the surface of the disc. It will be noted disposition of the grooves 23 and 24 and the intersections thereof with the central opening or orince .21, that liquid nowing thereform spray. ranged at a through is dispersed in a The grooves 23 are preferably arslight angle tothe axis of the shower pipe. This angle, we have found in practice, may advantageouslybe lapproximately 15 degrees. By arranging the grooves in this manner, a series of fan-shaped or fiabelliform sprays having the reto issue from the pipe. 0- of these sprays with 6 successively. p

-to the spray pipe,

lation to each other illustrated in Fig. 2 are caused The zones of impingement t an object such as a Fourdrinier wire are represented by the broken lines 37 and the edges of the object by the broken lines 38. It will be evident that as the object is moved beneath the sprays in a direction at right angles beneath said pipe without being subjectedto a spray. The arrangement of the sprays in this thorough and substantially uniwith an absence of efficiency loss the sprays intermingle. Moreover, by locating the shower at a somewhat higher elevation above the wire than that shown, every part of the wire, except the extreme edges, will be struck by two separate sprays We have found that the openings 21 may be sagging. A further advantage in purpose.

no part of the object can pass t inch. Openings or orifices of these diameters operate efficiently and do not readily clog with fibers and other material which may be present in the white water. We have also found in practice that such openings mayadvantageously be disposed along 6 inch centers.

In Figs. 1, 4. 5 and 6, we have illustrated a scraper suitable for cleaning the inner surface of the shower pipe and preventing the accumulation of undesirable material thereon. A rod or stem 27 passing through a stufllng box 28 in one end of the shower pipe is provided at its inner end with a scraper threaded to the reduced and secured in position by a nut 30. The scraper is preferably formed as a spider as illustrated in Fig. 6 in order to provide openings 31 for the passage ofl liquid. At least one other scraper 291 is provided atV about the middle of the rod 27, as indicated in Fig. 1. In the absence of a second scraper, the rod 27 is likely in practice to sag at an intermediate portion thereof and cover a shower opening thereby interfering with the uniform delivery of water along the body of the shower. An additional scraper precludes such the provision of 2 '1 does not have to clean all the a second scraper is that the rod to be drawn outwardly as far openings as would be the case if there were only a single scraper on the end thereof. 'I'he end of the rod outside.. of the shower pipe ispreferably provided with an operating handle 32 which is provided with two pins 33 extending laterally from opposite sides thereof, one of which is illustrated in Fig. 10. The pins 33 engage inclined slots 34 formed in plates 35 which may be secured to a nut 36 of the packing gland. The engagement of the pins 33 with the slots 34 prevents reciprocating movement of rod 27 hence it must be nrst turned to free the pins 33 from the slots before the scraper-s can be operated.

In operation, our shower may be used either with fresh water alone or white water. alone. By the provision of check valves 39 and 40 in the supply lines for the white and fresh water, respectively, it is obvious that both white and fresh water combined in any desired proportion may be used simultaneously.

While we have described our invention as particularly applicable forV the washing of Fourdrinier wires of paper making machines, it will, of course, be understood that it is not limited to this use. It may, for example, also be used for diluting pulp, cutting foam, cleaning cylinder molds, grinding stones and for any other desired practice that whereas 20,000 gallons of water per ton of paperA has heretofore usually been required with shower pipes in which the holes are drilled on inch centers that our invention requires only approximately 10,000 gals. per ton of paper. In other words the We have found in 'amount of water required for washing purposes in the plan is reduced by approximately 50%.

While we have described our invention in its preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the words which we. have used are words of description and not of limitation. Hence, changes .within the purview of the appended claims may be made without departing from the true scope and spirit of our invention in its broader aspects.

What we claim is: 1. In a shower pipe of the character described,

a pipe connected to one end of" said shower pipe for delivering liquid of a desired character to one end thereof, a pipe connected to the other end of said pipe for delivering a liquid of a diiferent character thereto and valves interposed between sa'id inlet pipes and said shower pipe, said shower pipe being provided with means for delivering a spray therefrom.

2. A shower adapted for use in a paper mill and comprising a pipe provided with a plurality of openings therein, spaced longitudinally of said pipe, nozzles secured in said openings and comprising comparatively thin circular disks each provided with a central discharge orifice of substantial size, whereby to prevent clogging, and two angularly disposed grooves, one on each side of said disk, intersecting said orifice, whereby said nozzles will discharge a abelliform spray.

3. A shower adapted for use in a paper mill and go'comprising a pipe provided with a plurality of openings therein, spaced longitudinally of said pipe, nozzles secured in said openings and comprising comparatively thin circular disks each provided with a central discharge orifice of substantial size, whereby to prevent clogging, and two angularly disposed grooves, one on each side of said disk, intersecting said orifice, whereby said nozzles will discharge a flabelliform spray; the grooves on the outer sides of said nozzle disks lying in substantially parallel planes disposed at a slight angle to the axis of the pipe.

4. A shower adapted for use in a paper mill comprising a pipe having a plurality of discharge orifices therein, means for supplying fresh water to said shower including a valve for regulating the supply of fresh water, and means for supplying white Water to said shower including a valve for regulating the supply of white water.

5. A shower adapted for use in a paper mill comprising a shower pipe having a plurality of discharge oriiices therein, a fresh water pipe connected to one end of said shower pipe, a valve for regulating the supply of fresh water, a check valve in said fresh water pipe for preventing back flow therein, a white water pipe connected to the opposite end of said shower pipe, avalve for regulating the supply of white water, and a check valve in said white water pipe for preventing back flow therein.'

6. A shower adapted Afor use in a paper mill and comprising a pipe provided with a plurality of threaded openings therein spaced longitudisaid orifice.

7. A shower adapted for use in a paper mill GEORGE STANFORD WITHAM, JR. DANIEL J. WALSH. 

